Why Gen-Z Will Take Longer Than Ever To Leave Home
Aug 04, 2022
iCrowdMarketing powered by iCrowdNewswire
Over the past decade or so, there has been a lot of criticism of the millennial generation, much of it coming from baby boomers. The main critique is that millennials do not have the same ambition as previous generations did. For this reason, it is supposed, many millennials continued living with their parents into their late twenties and early thirties.However, this is a somewhat lazy narrative. If you actually look at the factors that millennials have faced when choosing whether to leave or stay at home, you can see that the decision was not made for convenience. Stagnant wages, high housing prices, and the rising cost of healthcare and other necessities all made it impossible for many young people to live independently.
There are some aspects in which buying a home has gotten easier. When it comes to associated monthly costs like insurance, an online home insurance quote will show you that it’s far more affordable than you might have expected.
However, the main expenses are higher than ever before. It’s for this reason that millennials are not the only generation who take a while to leave home. Gen-Z is likely to stay for a while longer.
Here’s what to expect.
The Affordable Housing Crisis Continues
The affordable housing crisis got a lot of press during the pandemic, as struggling Americans found it difficult to stay in their current places of residence, let alone find new ones. Rent was high. Housing was expensive. At the same time, millions of people had lost their jobs. Only government help kept a lot of people in their homes during the worst of it.
But while people have their jobs back, the affordable housing crisis has gotten worse. Housing prices have shot up at unprecedented rates. Rent prices have also increased faster than inflation.
Much of the reason for this is that investment firms and big corporations have bought up a lot of the available housing on the market. With control over the supply, they can charge whatever they want for rent. It is unlikely that this will change any time soon, making it extremely difficult for young first-time renters to find a place to live. Staying with their parents may be the only choice many Gen-Zers have.
Inflation and Recessions
Unfortunately, the struggle for Gen-Zers does not stop at the high cost of housing. They're grappling with an economy that is in serious trouble. A number of factors have caused inflation to skyrocket. Basic necessities like food and gas are extremely expensive, and even financially stable young people are struggling to keep up.
It doesn’t help that we have only recently come out of a recession and appear to be heading for another one. Businesses are battling to stay open as the economy sputters to a halt, and most are not able to raise wages. Young people looking for upward mobility in their careers have to deal with the reality that their employers aren’t in the position to provide it.
For Gen Z youngsters trying to buy or rent a home at a higher price than ever before, inflation and recessions make it practically impossible. Even making ends meet while staying with their parents is becoming difficult.
Unregulated Industries
A major part of the problem is that many fundamental industries have raised prices over the past couple of decades simply because they could. We all need healthcare, but pharmaceutical providers, hospitals, and doctors have all continued to price up their services. We have gotten to the point where healthcare in the US is four times more expensive than anywhere else in the developed world.
It is a lack of regulation that has allowed this, in the same way that a lack of regulation has allowed rent to rise beyond what many people can afford. Without basic rules in place to keep prices from shooting up, providers in industries offering basic necessities can take advantage of the fact that customers have no choice but to pay up.
For Gen-Z youngsters, leaving home is going to be extremely difficult, even if things stay the same. If the economy gets worse and we continue to lose access to affordable housing, it is hard to see how many of them will gain independence in the near future.
Tags: English